Credit Where Credit Is Due

 

There's no accolades for us. No award ceremonies. We get a pay check at the end of the day. Maybe a little recognition through word of mouth, Facebook or website like this one. The fact we didn't get fired is our reward.  "Credit at Producer's Discretion". This is a statement seen on most deal memos these days. So on any project we've worked on it's great to be able to see your name go by in the credits. (to this day, every year I still get phone calls telling me that someone has seen my name on a Christmas movie that I did 20 years ago). For us who work in network television, broadcasters have trimmed timing down that end credits zoom by with another superimposed box of previews over top, so good luck seeing your name there. But at least it's there, so we do walk away (for the most part) with a feeling of having contributed to the project.

I worked on a major studio motion picture that's just been released in the theatres - "Pacific Rim". An incredible experience in all my years. I was the 'B" Camera dolly grip. I sat for days, while they shot single camera (old school baby!) SteadiCam shots. But a lot of the time I was swinging a telescopic of one kind or another. Trying to cram two and three cameras into places that really only should have one. There was many days that I would be driving home, thinking to myself "I did amazing work today", when most days of my career have been just thinking about getting home to bed.

It is an amazing movie to see. Yes, it's Godzilla vs Robots. If you do go for that thing, and want to go see it, do check it out in IMAX 3D if you can. It's well worth it. I'm not a fan of 3D and the movie wasn't shot in 3D but I feel that it was tastefully converted. For some unknown reason, most the grip and electric crews were not listed in the credits (keys and seconds only). I'd just like to acknowledge those people of the grip dept who worked on Pacific Rim.

Main Unit

Key Grips: Rick Stribling , Robert Daprato
Best Boy: Robert Rice
Dolly Grips: Patrick King, David Erlichman
Grips: Fabian MacDonald, Michael Ohordnyk, Chris Rice, Robert Vigus, Bert Gouweleeuw, Malcolm Nefsky
Crane Tech: Bob Harper
Remote Head tech: Brian Black

Second Unit

Key Grip: Christopher Dean
Best boy: Jim Holmes
Dolly Grips: Philip "Bucky" Lanthier, Ron Renzetti
Grips: Jon Billings, Wilton Higgins, Paul Sheridan

Riggers:

Key Rigging Grip: Bernie Lalonde
Best Boy Rigging: Mark Greenberg
Rigging Grips: Rod Benjamin, Randy Burbidge, Cesare DiGiulio, Mark DuFour, Roland Gauvin, Ron Forward, Guy Gervais, Jim Krauter.

I know I've forgotten names, but literally everyone in the local worked on the show at one time or another in one capacity or another. A larger tip of the robot cap to you folks for your time, sweat and support.